Change the following sentence into Indirect Speech:
He said, "I am too ill to speak now."
A. He said that he was too ill to speak now.
B. He said that he was too ill to speak then.
C. He said that I am too ill to speak now.
D. He said that I am too ill to speak.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → B
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| He said, "I am too ill to speak now." | He said that he was too ill to speak then. |
Statement in indirect speech:
- Reporting verb: "said" stays, and the reported words are joined with "that".
- Tense change: the present "am" moves back to the past "was".
- Pronoun changes: "I" becomes "he", the speaker.
- Words of nearness (time and place): "now" becomes "then".
Example: She said, "I am busy now." → She said that she was busy then.
(A) He said that he was too ill to speak now. — Incorrect.
- The time word "now" is not changed to "then".
(B) He said that he was too ill to speak then. — Correct.
- Pronoun, tense and time word are all changed.
(C) He said that I am too ill to speak now. — Incorrect.
- "I", "am" and "now" are all left unchanged.
(D) He said that I am too ill to speak. — Incorrect.
- The pronoun and tense are unchanged, and the time word is dropped.